I have come of age to vote,
Yet missed the day to register.
I have come of age to be wise,
Yet missed the day to remember.
I love my country dearly,
I live in it and am bound to it!
Yet a finger I couldn’t raise,
To those who deserve disgrace!
If not for my wicked heart,
Struck by apathy and antipathy,
I would have remembered,
The cries of my own country.
I lament the fact that I’m AWOL,
During the day of difference.
What can I do to redeem myself?
If my heart knows not itself?
My heart and head stand neutral!
With right or wrong just equal!
And there is no greater evil than me,
Who watches hearts bleed out.
There is no greater evil than I,
That see blue, red, yellow, and white,
Become pure in their sad colors.
A non-voter who laments to himself!
Become pure blue due to suffocation.
Become pure red due to old wounds.
Become pure yellow due to disease.
Become pure white as death visits.
Oh, dear Philippines my motherland.
I see, speak, and do evil on your body.
I ask the Lord for forgiveness and grace,
As the church rot from inside the gates.
My love for you is conditional!
I was born in your womb, motherland!
I serve you as I live on shame!
Yet my heart is grasped by ignorance!
Let my coming of age speak,
Let youth cry out in agony.
As I wait for my next chance,
To rid myself of this apathy.
I missed my chance to register and vote. I know not of the political affairs of my country and I am ignorant of politics as I hate it and want no part of it. Voting seems like an adult thing to do, and I am just nineteen. But as a citizen I must do my part and redeem my ignorance.
